Sumo Belly check

[bobmen10000]

I am trying sumo for a block or two. How does it look?

[mettkeks]

I think your stance could possibly be a little wider. KOTJ reminded me to keep my toes out more the wider the stance gets. But @Sumo is the authority on these pulls here!

Why are you holding the rep at lockout so long? Also, you might want to try letting gravity do it’s job and have that bar move back down faster. You don’t need to control the bar in the descent any more than making sure to hold on to it. I found that making tweaks to those two elements of my pull, both sumo and conventional, helped me stay fresher for the next rep.

Unless sumo is your competition lift, I'd go with the stance that feels more natural. The toe thing is also very individual. A controlled eccentric is indeed not necessary, but better for hypertrophy.

I'd concentrate more on squeezing the bar off of the floor, especially on rep 3 and 4 you are yanking it and your hips shoot up. Playing the video on half speed shows it very good. Take your time to reset proberly and get tight. Other than that I'll leave it to the pros.

One tip, if you are just getting used to sumo/semi sumo, don't do too much high RPE work right away. Your adductors may need some time to acclimatize.

[mgil]

Probably need to work on sitting back a bit more, getting the knees out a touch, and dropping the hips a smidge. That should get your back a bit more upright and make the lift “look right”. The hips being too high and conventional pull mechanics is what’s making the lockout hard, imo.

[Sumo]

Thanks @Nikipedia

@bobmen10000 honestly your sumo looks decent for just starting out.

There are a couple of things that stand out, you should work on these you decide to stick with it. They apply to sumo and conventional, the principle is the same the execution would be a touch different.

1. You're doing a mild grip and rip-like action when you innitiate the lift. If you slow it down and create tension properly, you'll see a much smoother lift.
   
   Kabuki have a very good training video on creating tension and innitiating the lift
   
2. You're very slow driving the hips in. Here's another KMS training clip which talks about the wedge cue
   

There are a few smaller things, but if you can implement the tips in the two clips here you'll see quite a difference and likely eliminate a few other issues as well

[bobmen10000]

@Nikipedia @mgil @mettkeks @Sumo

Thanks for all of your input. I appreciate you taking the time to give your opinion.

@Sumo I will definitely watch the videos. The plan is to try sumo for a couple months and transitioning either back to conventional or switching to snatch grip for a bit as the primary movement throughout the Spring.

[Sumo]

No worries Bob!

I would keep Sumo in the program even if you decide to switch back to conventional, there's good carryover from Sumo to Conventional. I would bet good money you'll hit a PR when you go back to conventional

[SpinyNorman]

The plan is to try sumo for a couple months and transitioning either back to conventional or switching to snatch grip for a bit as the primary movement throughout the Spring.

I needed more than a couple of months for my adductors to adjust and to feel like I was getting the hang of sumo. I'd say it was more like 6 months before I felt somewhat comfortable with it (but my back liked it immediately).

[Sumo]

The plan is to try sumo for a couple months and transitioning either back to conventional or switching to snatch grip for a bit as the primary movement throughout the Spring.

I needed more than a couple of months for my adductors to adjust and to feel like I was getting the hang of sumo. I'd say it was more like 6 months before I felt somewhat comfortable with it (but my back liked it immediately).

Oh I know that all too well, back when I started pulling sumo my coach had me pulling conventional, only, every 3 or 4th week. I think it took me the better part of 9 months to be able to sustain sumo every week.